Shut down completely, the stud was in quarantine for the entirety of its breeding season.

"It has done a huge amount of damage to my business. I believe there was a gross injustice," Mr Turkington said.

"Some people lost more than others; it was a matter of timing. For us,We had to shut down for the whole breeding season from August to the end of November. We were completely in quarantine."

Mr Turkington has now signed up with national class actions law firm Maurice Blackburn to argue the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service was at fault for the catastrophe.

The firm will file a class action against the Commonwealth in the coming months for what it calls "failing to implement quarantine and biosecurity measures which would have prevented the disease from infecting horses in Australia".

Principal Damian Scattini said the firm believed it had a very strong case, which would hopefully be over within two years.

"It shut down the industry and some people have never recovered," Mr Scattini said.

"The failure by the AQIS to have even basic measures in place to prevent a major outbreak of the disease caused hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenue and job losses."

He urged any other eligible individuals and businesses interested in becoming involved to contact the firm.

"The upshot of a class action is that it's funded, so people don't have to pay any money to lawyers unless it's successful," he said.